Governance Policy
Impartiality Policy
IAC safeguards impartiality to preserve public trust and decision integrity. Evaluation and decision functions are structurally separated, and all personnel are subject to ongoing impartiality monitoring as required by ISO/IEC 17011 § 4.4.
Purpose & scope
This policy applies to every individual who influences accreditation outcomes — including assessors, technical experts, committee members, board directors, and operational staff. Its purpose is to:
- Ensure accreditation decisions are free from conflicts of interest and undue influence.
- Provide a systematic method for identifying, analyzing, and mitigating impartiality threats.
- Establish oversight mechanisms that operate independently of day-to-day operations.
Key principles
- Structural separation: No individual participates in both evaluation and decision functions for the same case.
- Transparency: All findings, decisions, and rationales are documented and auditable.
- Independent oversight: The Impartiality Committee — composed entirely of external members — reviews policies and practices biannually.
- Proactive identification: Impartiality risks are assessed before each assessment cycle, not only reactively.
Impartiality threat categories
| Threat type | Description | Typical mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Self-interest | Financial, employment, or ownership interest in the applicant's organization. | Recusal and disclosure; re-assignment of assessors. |
| Self-review | Evaluating one's own prior consulting or training work at the applicant. | 2-year cooling-off period for former consultants. |
| Familiarity | Close personal or family relationship with applicant personnel. | Mandatory disclosure; alternative assessor assignment. |
| Intimidation | Coercion or undue pressure from an applicant or external party. | Confidential reporting channel; Compliance investigation. |
| Advocacy | Acting as an advocate for the applicant's interests within the accreditation process. | Role boundaries enforced; training on professional independence. |
Impartiality controls
- Conflict of interest declarations are required from all assessors and decision-makers before each assessment cycle.
- The Compliance Office maintains a register of all declared and identified threats, with mitigation status.
- The Impartiality Committee reviews the threat register, completed assessments, and decision records biannually.
- Recusal procedures are triggered automatically when a declared or identified threat meets defined severity thresholds.
- An audit trail of all accreditation decisions — including conflict screening results — is retained for a minimum of 6 years.
Complaints or concerns about impartiality should be submitted through the formal complaints process. All submissions are treated confidentially.
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